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Catholic
parents’ group calls on Catalans to disobey the law
Barcelona,
February 21st, 2005 (ACPress.net).
‘Concapa’, the National
Confederation of Catholic Parents, has called on parents to
disobey the law at the “unjust legality” of proposals by the
Catalan regional government to end confessional R.E. classes
in schools there.
Its argument is that a “government which does not follow current
legislation lacks legitimacy to insist that its citizens obey
unjust laws”, and that it deserves some of its own medicine,
namely disobedience by its citizens. The Catalan government
intends removing Catholic R.E. classes and replace it with a
‘History of Religions’ subject, the syllabus of which would
be decided by the government and not by the various religious
groups.
Concapa adds: “The Catalan government, with complete disregard
for the Spanish constitution, agreements with the Vatican, international law which ensures educational
and religious liberty, and against the will of three million
Spanish citizens, intends to tell Catalan families, in a dictatorial
manner, how to bring up their children, by excluding R.E. from
its schools.” The Association considers the failure to fulfil
the law “serious”, but feels it is “much worse” that they have
not taken the wishes of families into account, as they are “the
only people who can legitimately tell a government how their
children should be educated.” They call the Catalan move “dictatorial”,
“undemocratic” and “sectarian”.
Source: E.PRESS. Editing:
ACPress.net Losing
the spiritual and moral plot
Madrid, February
21st, 2005 (ACPress.net).
Various surveys
show how religious belief is evolving in Spain,
especially among the young. Most still believe in God (69%),
but only 43% believe in the existence of sin, while a measly
24% believe in the resurrection from the dead.
Juan González-Anleo, who coordinated the survey which came up
with these figures, says “women are more likely to believe in
sin, (which) has an obviously religious connotation.” Fernando
Vidal, a Sociology lecturer at the Catholic University of Comillas,
says “at heart it is a question of the subject of evil. The
idea of evil as a sin is facing a crisis, but people are deeply
conscious of what is bad, including radical experiences of it.”
Such feelings are greater at times like the recent anniversary
of the liberation of Auschwitz.
What are today’s sins? Vidal is in no doubt; “we need to change
our terminology. The problem is we have a strong Catholic background...but
today (sin) could be consumerism, or violence instead of anger.”
He admits that traditional sexual morals in today’s society
do not fit easily with what society now considers ‘common sense’,
which paradoxically “is excessively moralist in many things,
with an exaggerated idea of what is correct.” For instance,
adultery as a sin hardly raises an edo not fit easily with what
society now considers ‘common sense’, which paradoxically “is
excessively moralist in many things, with an exaggerated idea
of what is correct.” For instance, adultery as a sin hardly
raises an eyebrow, but faithfulness is lauded as something very
good.
Vidal concludes that “what one observes is a criticism of the
use of sin as a social control, as a set of laws of continence
which often clash with the laws of liberty.”
Source: ABC. Editing:
ACPress.net
Moses Project helping needy children in South
America
Madrid,
February 21st, 2005 (ACPress.net).
The Spanish Evangelical
Alliance continues to try and help children on the fringes of
Latin American society, through projects in Colombia,
Bolivia, Honduras and Peru.
Orphans, handicapped children and other needy youngsters receive
help which might otherwise pass them by, as well as getting
a practical example of Christian faith. The ‘Moses Project’
sponsors needy children; 582 sponsors help 621 children. “Although
quite a lot of people ask to sponsor a child, almost as many
drop out for varying reasons. Nevertheless we keep praying to
the Lord that He would encourage more people to join a project
like this one, which not only can change a child’s life by giving
him the chance to get out of the cycle of poverty in which he
was born, but also can change his environment through associated
community projects”, says Project Director, Francisca Capa.
Capa visited three cities in Colombia where the Project operates: Rioacha, Cali
and Bogota. “We came back amazed at the work being done
with such few resources; at the dedication (of teachers and
helpers) to the children; at their commitment to the Lord in
such difficult circumstances.” The pastor who looks after one
of the projects in Bogota was shot just a month before Capa’s visit,
but miraculously was unhurt. All the projects are located in
poor districts inhabited by indigenous groups, social outcasts
or people displaced by the civil war. The children receive formal
education and biblical values and teaching. The aim is to train
men and women who can live peacefully in that conflict-ridden
land.
The needs are immense, but the Alliance depends on donations. Last year the Project
bought a minibus, and is now looking to set up places to work
with the children. Some of the projects are based in rented
properties which they cannot convert as they would like. It
is fairly easy to buy land, and the State gives grants towards
the construction of centres. Another development is a training
course for 50 teachers, to train them to teach the normal syllabus
but from a Christian, and not a humanist, worldview.
Another part of the ‘Moses Project’ is the ‘Rainbow Home’ in
Peru, which hit the headlines last year when an American missionary
couple adopted five sisters whose parents had been killed in
a car crash. The law does not allow siblings to be separated
and because there were five of them, Project staff had expected
them to remain in care until they came of age. Yet nothing is
impossible for the Lord. When the girls were interviewed by
the Press, they spoke highly of how the Home had helped them.
The Project would like to reach many more needy children in
that part of the world.
Source & Editing:
ACPress.net
More faith required to deny God’s existence than to believe
in Him
Madrid, February 21st,
2005 (ACPress.net).
Antonio Cruz,
evangelical pastor and Doctor in Biology, has just published
a book in which he seeks to show how the latest scientific discoveries
point to the existence of God. He opens up a new horizon in
Christian apologetics.
Physics has shown that the cosmos had a beginning, and that
the universe is much bigger, more complex and marvellous than
had previously been thought. Spectacular discoveries made throughout
the 20th century lead to the same conclusion; the need for an
intelligent design to explain the increasing complexity of the
universe. “It’s not theologians saying this, but cosmologists.”
Neurologists investigating the behaviour of the human brain
in relation to spirituality are discovering that Freud’s conclusions
that religion was an illusion were premature and reductionist.
The idea that the brain is a simple computer disconnected from
anything transcendent does not explain the complex nature of
the human conscience. “Believing that the origin of life comes
merely from the evolution of material is not science, but an
act of faith. It is more logical to believe it was created.”
Today the latest scientific trend is to say that there is an
intelligent mind behind nature, though everyone gives their
own interpretation of what this mind might be like.
Scientists used to try and show there were reasons for the existence
of God, whereas today atheists have to try and show that there
are no reasons for believing in His existence. Cruz adds: “Some
years ago, believing in God required a leap of faith, today
one needs more faith to deny His existence.”
Cruz thinks that micro-evolution has existed in the sense of
change within certain groups (breeds of dog, types of corn),
but Darwin’s theory refers to macro-evolution, “a unproved and
unprovable hypothesis. In fact, the latest genetic discoveries
contradict the theory. Many scientists, without being Christians,
think that a new theory relating to creation needs to be found.”
Cruz believes that Darwin’s theory is really used as an anti-religious
weapon. “Whoever doesn’t believe in God believes in naturalism,
that is, that Nature made itself. This idea is a belief, because
the debate between Darwin and God is not really a debate between
science and faith, but between two religions: one without God,
and the other with God.”
Sources: eMision, Clie.
Editing: ACPress.net
R.E. pupil numbers falling...
Madrid, February 23rd,
2005 (ACPress.net).
The number of
pupils opting to take Catholic R.E. classes has fallen in both
state and private schools.
The percentage of Secondary School pupils in private schools
fell from 89.8% to 82.1% in the final two years, and from 88.5%
to 85.8% in the other years. The equivalent drop in state schools
was from 43.4% to 40.6%, and from 55.6% to 50%. Primary Schools
also registered a fall in the state sector, 80.2% to 78.1%.
Only private Primary Schools held their own at a stable 88.8%.
In overall numbers of pupils, the total of those who studied
R.E. in 2002-2003 went up on the previous academic year, by
7,042 in the final two years of state schools and by 79,808
in private schools. The first four years of Secondary School
saw a drop of 3,623 in the state sector and an increase of 13,445
in the independent equivalent. State Primary Schools registered
an overall drop of 15,372, while private Primary Schools increased
by 429 pupils.
Source: EFE. Redacción:
ACPress.net
..yet Muslim R.E. growing
Melilla, February 24th,
2005 (ACPress.net).
Muslims estimate
that there are about 74,000 pupils ready to receive Islamic
R.E. and the Education Ministry is to create 20 new places for
teachers.
Catalonia, one of the regions with the highest number of Muslims,
registered 2,700 pupil requests for the classes at the beginning
of the year, although they have not yet begun. In Melilla, there
are about 4,000 Muslim pupils in Islamic R.E. classes. Behind
Catholics, who have about 3.4 million pupils receiving confessional
R.E., the Muslims are the second biggest group when it comes
to pupils receiving R.E. of their own religion, with just over
9,300 pupils currently being taught in Spanish schools.
Source: LA RAZÓN. Editing:
ACPress.net
Spanish Catholic Church criticises Prince Charles’ wedding
Madrid, February 24th,
2005 (ACPress.net).
The General Secretary
and spokesman for the Spanish Catholic Episcopate, Juan Antonio
Martínez Camino, has criticised the forthcoming wedding of Prince
Charles and Mrs Parker-Bowles, saying “it is not a good example
for Christians.”
Martínez said “the ideal basis of Christian marriage is that
it is the source of children for humanity, stability in society...and
implies faithful love until death. In this context, this marriage
is not a good example for Christians. The highest authority
in the Church of England is the king (sic). We do not understand
this. It does not make sense from the point of view of the
constitution of the Church as a spiritual and religious reality.”
Martínez does not realise that the monarch is spiritually a
figurehead, yet politically an important safeguard for the religious
heritage of Great Britain.
Cardinal O’Brien, head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, who
clearly shows no respect for British constitutional arrangements,
said it would be a good moment to evaluate what he called ‘anti-Catholic
legislation’. He used the occasion of the wedding announcement
to say that if Mrs Parker-Bowles had been a Catholic, Prince
Charles would have had to renounce his right to the throne if
he wished to marry her. The Act of Settlement of 1701 establishes
that any Catholic or anyone who marries a Catholic losing the
right to accede to the throne, a measure absolutely necessary
to ensure the Protestant succession, and to ensure that the
monarch defends the Reformed Christian faith as he or she is
required to do.
Source: LA RAZÓN. Editing:
ACPress.net
1st Madrid Protestant Congress planned for November
Madrid, February 24th,
2005 (ACPress.net).
The
idea of a Protestant Congress in Madrid was first touted in
late 2002. Different groups supported the idea and eventually
the Evangelical Council of Madrid ratified the suggestion and
began the job of organising it.
A Committee made up of representatives from different denominations
and evangelical church groups is now working on what will be
the I Protestant Congress of Madrid. The dates are November
25th-27th, 2005 and the ‘big event’ will be
a joint church service on the Sunday morning, November 27th.
The aim is to show as large and as united a presence as possible,
so that Madrid as a whole takes note of the Protestant community
in its midst.
Topics due to be discussed at the Congress include denominationalism,
the social commitment of the Church, the family and the history
of Protestantism in Madrid. There will also be panels discussing immigration, women and youth.
Source: CEM. Editing:
ACPress.net
Mission group deny any connection with those arrested in Zaragoza
Madrid,
February 23rd, 2005 (ACPress.net).
The four people
arrested on suspicion of keeping a young man against his will
in a flat in Zaragoza (as reported here in ACPress.net) have been released by police. There
had been talk of an exorcism or strange rite connected with
a sect.
The four are the young man’s parents and two South Americans
who, according to police, belonged to the ‘International Mission
of the Holy Spirit’ (IMHS). Apparently they claimed the young
man, Juan de la Peña, 21, was demon-possessed, which is why
they kidnapped him. The case was discovered when Peña broke
a window and shouted into the street for help. The police were
called and arrested the four. A neighbour said she had heard
religious singing from the flat, which was lived in by one of
those arrested and her mother. Peña is now under observation
in the psychiatric wing of a local hospital.
However, the issue does not end there. Juan Carlos Flores, the
pastor responsible for international affairs within the IMHS
has denied any connection between the Mission and this case, saying those arrested had nothing to do with their
group. He says the IMHS is a genuine Christian organisation
legally registered in Costa Rica,
from whence it heralds. Flores
says it is ‘Christocentric and biblical’. “We do not believe
in nor encourage sects, in fact our website give plenty of information
about our beliefs and action over the years.”
Flores expressed his regret that the news that
the four people arrested were members of IMHS had been spread
without anyone getting in touch with the IMHS to find out the
truth. “We haven’t got any representation in Spain, nor have we delegated it to anyone. All our representatives are properly
accredited and have excellent credentials in the countries where
we serve the Lord like the USA,
Nicaragua or Costa Rica.
None of our ministers has visited or lived in Spain. Only the ignorance or the malice of the local
police could explain how they connected us with actions opposed
to our beliefs.”
ACPress.net would like to say that it simply put out a news
item which was widely reported by such media outlets as Europa
Press and the newspaper, ‘Periódico de Aragón.’
Sources: Europa Press,
El Periódico, MIES. Editing: ACPress.net
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